


All Just Part Of The Mission

by somanyfeels



Series: Part of the Mission [1]
Category: Marvel (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Assassination, Bucky Barnes Has Issues, Implied/Referenced Brainwashing, M/M, Manipulation, POV Bucky Barnes, Secret Identity, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Winteriron Holiday Exchange
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-23
Updated: 2015-12-23
Packaged: 2018-05-08 14:40:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,656
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5501171
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/somanyfeels/pseuds/somanyfeels
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>James loved Tony. It didn't matter that James had only introduced himself to Tony because it was part of his mission, or that he had started a relationship to keep tabs on him for his handlers.  What mattered was that James had honestly fallen in love with Tony.  It might be an issue in the future, but for now it wasn't important.</p>
            </blockquote>





	All Just Part Of The Mission

**Author's Note:**

  * For [](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts).



> This is my gift to Littleammydee for the Winteriron Holiday Exchange! You said you liked secret identities so I made an AU just for you. A lot of the story is missing, but I plan on filling it in more and more with later installments to the series. I hope you like it.

James watched through the scope of his rifle from the building right across from Stark Tower.  The windows were tinted, he had a special scope.  Tony was in a meeting, his laptop open in front of him scrolling through cat pictures.  James smiled as his focus shifted from Tony to another man, farther into the room and much more interested in the discussion.  He seemed angry, waving his hands around as he tried to get his point across.  Tony wasn’t fazed at all as he pulled out his phone.

His mission was simple, take out the target and report, returning to his station to continue the plan.  He waited, the people in the room sitting too close together to have a clear enough target.  In a little while, the meeting will end and he can take the shot.  It’ll be easy enough.  The windows of the tower had reinforced bullet-proof glass, a few shots in just the right area will weaken it enough to get the bullet through.  He would have to be fast, but his aim would be accurate.

The loud pinging of his ringtone caught his attention and he pulled his phone from his pocket.

‘ _Do I pay these men to be so boring?’_

James smiled and put the phone down.  Right now he had to focus.  Things were slowing down, coming to their conclusion.  The man in the back was smiling smugly, waving his hand around the room as if to tell each and every person around the table that he won.  Tony looked at him and closed his laptop.  The moment he opened his mouth the man’s grin faltered.

He sat down and crossed his arms.  Tony stood up and walked to the front of the room, waving away all questions and comments as he spoke.  His body language was strong, Tony had a habit of taking control of a whole room when it suited him.  Whatever was the purpose of this business meeting, it probably revolved around them all having different interests and Tony winning them all over by convincing them something was best for the company.

When he finished talking, the room started to disperse.  They all stood up and collected their belongings.  Tony pulled out his phone again.

‘ _I have them eating out of the palm of my hand.  Dinner tonight?’_

Bucky smiled as he put his phone down and switched off the safety.  The first shot hardly formed a dent.  Tony looked at it, frowning with his eyebrows drawn together.  The second shot caused a large crack to form across the glass.  Tony shouted, people were ducking and rushing for the door.  James took aim and took the final shot.

The smug man from the back of the room was now bleeding out on the floor.  Tony was crouched down behind the conference table, hiding from the broken window.  He was afraid.  He shouldn’t be, James wasn't ordered to kill Tony.  He pulled out his phone and returned the message.

‘ _Sure babe, love to meet you for dinner.’_

 

~~~

 

“Sounds horrible.”  James said.  “Do they know who did it?”

Tony shrugged as he nursed the whiskey in his hands.  He was trembling slightly, just a little bit to show that he was upset.  “They have no idea.  Just some sniper who was hiding out in the building next door.  We need new windows.  We need better protection in the whole building.  Jim was a good man, an asshole, stubborn and self-centered, but he didn’t deserve that.  Shit.”

James stepped forward, wrapping his arms around Tony’s waist and pulling him close.  “It’s alright, sweetheart.  You’re alright.”  He pressed his mouth to Tony’s messy curls and kissed his forehead.  He didn’t understand.  Of course Tony thought he had lost a good man, he didn’t know that he was selling Stark Company secrets to Hammer, or that he had promised those same secrets to the organization that hired James to kill him once he backed out of the deal.  “I’m sorry.  It must have been terrifying.  I won’t let anyone hurt you.”

“You think I’m scared for myself?”  Tony said, his body trembling as James pulled him closer.  “Jim had a wife, he had kids.  What am I supposed to do now?”

“What did you plan on doing?”  James asked.  Tony buried his face into James’s neck and sighed.

“Repair the building, update security, make a public statement, and make sure his family is taken care of.”  Tony mumbled softly.  “They should get a pretty hearty check from life insurance, I’ll make sure they get it.  Insurance companies can be tricky, this family is going through a lot.  I won’t let them worry about something as stupid as money.  I should go see them, offer my condolences.”

Tony wasn’t going to go see them, they both knew it.  He still said he was though, James didn’t know why but it was helping.  Tony had stopped shaking and allowed himself to sink further into him.  Tony probably meant most of what he said, he was going to work nonstop until he was sure he had fixed things.

James kissed the top of Tony’s head.  “Come on, sweetheart.  Let’s go to bed.”

He wrapped his arms around Tony and pulled him into the air, holding him close to his chest and carrying him towards their room.  It was a testament of how exhausting the day had been for him, how terrifyingly horrible, that he went willingly and quietly.  It was still early, Tony could stay up for hours longer, but James laid him out on the bed and pulled off his shoes.

They laid together, cuddling close and filling the room with the sounds of their breathing.  Tony didn’t cry, this wasn’t the first time someone had died around him and it probably wouldn’t be the last.  Still, it didn’t change the fact that a coworker he had seen every day was now dead, shot and killed in their conference room.  Tony had been around dying people, had seen lives in danger and had his own life threatened a dozen times.  It still affected him every single time.  James kissed him, leaning forward and gently pressing his mouth onto his.

Tony smiled.

“I love you.”  James whispered.  “So damn much.”

It was the truth.  Ever since he spilled his coffee all over Tony’s ridiculously expensive shirt while he was tailing him through LA.  He had been beautiful, forcing a smile and jokingly saying that the shirt was atrocious anyway, it would have ended up destroyed one way or another and James had just saved him the trouble of tossing it into the shredder.

“Mr. Barnes I think you’re trying to seduce me.”  Tony said, his tone light and calm.

“Maybe.”  James said as he kissed him again.

 

~~~

 

James woke up alone.  Tony’s side of the bed was still warm, just barely to indicate that he had slept through the night but left a little while ago.  He didn’t get up right away, just reached out into Tony’s side and felt the cooling sheets, rolling over so he could bury his face into the vacated pillow.  It smelt like him, grease and peppermint.  An odd but amazing combination.

When he finally got up and walked out into the living room, Pepper and Rhodes were sitting near him and whispering softly.  When he walked further into the room, they stopped and looked over at him.

“Hey.  Where’s Tony?”  James asked.

“He stepped out.”  Rhodes said.  “Had a family to visit.”

James stopped, halfway to the kitchen.  “He actually went?”  He asked slowly.

Pepper nodded.  “Yes, he feels responsible.  After everything he’s done to rebuild this company he’s taking great care to make sure his employees are safe.”  She said.  Her voice was rough.  “Jim was one of the few people still left since the company shut down weapons manufacturing.  Most of the board members either thought the company would sink and left or were loyal to Stane.  Tony cared about him, now he’s gone.”

He finished his walk into the kitchen.  He wasn’t going to feel bad, not about this.  James has killed dozens of people, for people who paid the appropriate price or by orders alone.  He wasn’t going to start letting it sit on his conscience now.  That man was supposed to be Tony’s friend apparently, but he was selling the leftover weapons blueprints that he must have saved when Tony decided to shut down the program.  He was ordered to kill him for backing out of the deal with his handlers.  It was how things were supposed to be, James was not going to feel bad.

He would do it again.  James was ordered to do it and if he wanted to hold on to the life he was building then he would have to follow orders.  His handlers would take it all away if he deviated from his commands.

“Hey, darling.”  Tony said, walking into the kitchen.  “I’m back.”

“You weren’t gone long.”  James said as he turned around and smiled at him.  “How did it go?”

Tony shrugged.  “About as well as you can expect.  They’re devastated.”  He said.  James stepped forward and wrapped his arms around Tony, pulling him close and kissing his forehead.  Tony pressed himself firmly into James’s hold, melting into the small comfort he offered him.  “I’m going to find him.  Whoever did this, I’m going to find out who it was and make sure they can’t do any of it again.  Where ever they’re hiding, I’ll find them.”

James didn’t answer.  He just continued to hold Tony and rock him slightly back and forth.  He wasn’t great at comforting people, but he would give what he could.  After a while, Tony pulled back and put on a wide smile.

“Come on, I want to show you what I’ve been working on in my lab.  You’ll love it, an absolute masterpiece, my best work yet.”  Tony said, his voice taking on a slight excitement that always had when he wanted to hide behind engineering when things got too emotional.

“You said the exact same thing when you invented a toaster that could make eggs in a basket.”  Bucky said.  He could remember the enthusiasm of that day, just cracking eggs into a machine that he put bread into and getting out a perfect breakfast.  “What is the truth?”

“I can have more than one best work.”  Tony said.

He was laughing, Tony’s laugh was always light and melodic and James loved hearing it every single day.  He loved all of it, the stretch of Tony’s mouth when he smiled, the snorting and hollering when he was worked up into hysterics, the feeling of kissing him while he giggled.

 

~~~

 

“You are in no position to make requests.”  The woman said.  “You follow orders, you do not give them.”

James stood completely still as they all looked at him.  Instead of giving his weekly report, he stood there, stared them down, and told them that it was time to remove themselves of Stark Industries.  Meddling with the company further would do nothing but damage to everyone involved, now that the most recent attack has attracted too much unwanted interest.

Tony Stark had a lot of powerful friends, ones that would be very interested in what his handlers were up to.  If they found out they were here, it could put the whole operation in jeopardy.  His handlers, Pierce especially, would not be pleased if things went south now.  They were close, so close to their goal that they would not back off now. 

“Soldier, we have ignored your relations with Mr. Stark because you gave frequent updates on his behaviors, schedules, and projects.  If this has become a conflict of interests then we will pull you out and send you back to that hole we have saved for you for safe keeping.”  One of the men said again, the others murmured in acknowledgement.   “Do I make myself clear?”

It was a mistake.  If they kept meddling with Stark Industries then it would fall apart.  What would he do if Tony found out?  His mission was to spy on him, not sleep with him, not move in with him.  Tony wouldn’t see it that way.  It didn’t matter, wouldn’t matter once things were done and settled.  His final orders would have been to kill Tony regardless.  Once they got what they wanted, he was useless.

“Hail Hydra.”  The surrounding men and women said.

“Hail Hydra.”  The Soldier repeated, ignoring how dry his throat had suddenly became.

He was dismissed, stepped outside with orders to return in a week’s time.  They would be closer then to finding what they’re after.  James isn’t quite sure of what it is, he isn’t allowed to know most of the details of his objectives, but it’s important if they sent him on such an extended mission.  A whole week between check-ins, days of freedom with no observation, Tony wrapped around him and whispering sweetness into his ears at night.

He made it back to the tower within the hour and went up to the pent house.  It was quiet.  The lights on the Christmas tree lit up the room and the snow outside of the window made the whole world seem tinted in a soft glow.  Tony was fast asleep on the couch.

“Hey, sweetheart.  What are you doing?”  James asked as he walked up to the couch and lightly shook the sleeping man’s shoulder.  He smiled at Tony’s grumble and pout.  “Come on, time for bed.”

Tony went easily enough when he bent down to take him into his arms.  “I called Agent today.  He’s going to help us investigate.”  He said slowly, his words slurred slightly from sleep.  James nodded, he didn’t know what he was talking about.  “We’re gonna catch ‘em.  Jim will rest easy.”

“I bet he will.  Now let’s get into bed.”  He whispered as he carried Tony to their room.  James frowned as he held Tony close, he smelled distinctly of scotch.  Drunk, it happened on occasions, but that didn’t mean he liked it.  It lowered Tony’s inhibitions, if he was ordered to, Tony would be useless in an interrogation.  If they were attacked, Tony couldn’t protect himself.  He laid Tony down onto the bed and pulled back the covers to tuck him in.

“I love you.”  Tony mumbled.

James froze as he processed the words.  They haven’t known each other long, just over half a year.  Things were probably moving too fast, James didn’t have enough time to properly adapt to having Tony in his life and being in Tony’s life.  What if he made a mistake and they got into a fight?  What if things were ruined?  Tony smiled at him after he said it, a warm and openly affectionate expression that somehow managed to be both breathtaking and a breath of fresh air all at the same time.  He reached out and took James’s hand, running his slender fingers over his knuckles.

“I think I fell in love with you after the third time we had sex and you laughed at my dirty talk.  Said it was the most ridiculous thing you’ve ever heard.”  He said, his voice soft and warm.  James remembered that, it had been ridiculous.  Tony thought he was being sexy but it just made the whole thing awkward.

“I love you too.”  James said, leaning down and kissing Tony, not trying at all to deepen the kiss.  “Now go to sleep.”

It had surprised him how honestly he said it, how he believed his own words.  It was all supposed to be an act, to get close to Tony and get what his handlers are looking for.  Still, didn’t make things worse because he loved Tony.  He ran his fingertips gently over his lover’s nose, brushing across his eyelids, memorizing the shape of his face.  His handlers will never have to know.

 

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you liked it. I plan on writing more for it and feel free to leave feedback.  
> As more stories are added to the series a lot of blank parts will be filled in. Until then, I hope you enjoyed this first look into the universe!


End file.
